Cubs Minor League Weekend Recap: Owen Caissie Continues Hot Streak Ahead of Trade Deadline

[Billy Reich]

Image courtesy of © Cody Scanlan/The Register / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cubs Affiliate Overview (July 5 – July 6)

• Triple-A Iowa Cubs
  Series  vs. Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City Royals): Cubs lose series 2-4
  Season Record: 45-41

• Double-A Tennessee Smokies
  Series vs. Rocket City Trash Pandas (Los Angeles Angels): Smokies split series 3-3
  Season Record: 38-42

• High-A South Bend Cubs
  Series vs. Peoria Chiefs (St. Louis Cardinals): Cubs win series 4-2
  Season Record: 29-52

• Single-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans
  Series vs. Charleston RiverDogs (Tampa Bay Rays): Pelicans win series 4-1
  Season Record: 36-42

Triple-A Iowa Cubs

Season Record: 45-41
Series Opponent: Omaha Storm Chasers (Kansas City Royals)
Series Standing: Win 4-2

July 5: The Cubs were chased off by the Storm Chasers on Saturday by a score of 8-4. 

Kenta Maeda took the bump for the Cubs today and continued to fall back to earth, putting up four earned runs, six hits, and giving up a home run in five and ⅓ innings pitched. Despite flashing some promise that he still has the potential to make a spot start for an injury riddled major league roster, Maeda sits with a 7.14 ERA with only 26 strikeouts in 40 innings of work in the minors this season. The relievers were even worse today, with Tom Cosgrove giving up two runs in ⅔ of an inning and Keegan Thompson giving up two of his own in one and ⅓ innings. Brooks Kriske was the best of them today as he closed the game having to face just two batters - striking them both out.

On offense, the Cubs mustered up just four hits, and it was all Moises Ballesteros and Owen Caissie. Caissie opened up the Cubs’ scoring with a solo home run to deep center field to put the team up 1-0.

Caissie would launch another home run in the eighth inning, finishing the day going 2-for-4 with two home runs. Caissie has been on an absolute tear lately, raising himself to a .933 OPS on the season. He’s gotten hot at just the right time, positioning himself as a top trade chip the Major League team desperately needs.

July 6: The Cubs outran the Storm Chasers, taking home a win on Sunday by a score of 9-5.

Ben Brown made the start in Iowa today, his first start in the minors since being demoted from the Major League club on June 23rd - a start where he gave up eight runs in five innings. Things went better for Brown today, as he went four innings, giving up just one run on two hits and one walk. Luke Little came in to relieve Brown in the fifth, continuing to show his dominance, giving up zero runs and striking out two. I’m not sure what else Little needs to show to earn the next call up for the bullpen - he’s allowed just one run in May, one run in June, and is striking out 10.75 batters per nine innings pitched.

Nate Pearson closed out the game in the ninth, striking out one and allowing zero hits. Pearson is in a similar boat to Little, boasting a 2.20 ERA and has been dominant in all but one start since the start of May.

The Cubs went off today offensively, racking up nine runs and 14 hits - every player notched a hit today and three had multi-hit performances. Kevin Alcantara, Owen Caissie, and Chase Strumpf all had a double in today's game. Caissie stays on a scorcher, finishing today going 3-for-5 with two runs and raising his OPS even further.

Double-A Tennessee Smokies

Season Record: 38-42
Series Opponent: Rocket City Trash Pandas (Los Angeles Angels)
Series Standing: Split 3-3

July 5: The Smokies fell out of orbit, losing to the Trash Pandas 2-1.

Veteran Chris Clarke took the mound and pitched a gem today, going five innings, striking out five, and allowing zero runs on three hits. Clarke has battled injuries last year and into the offseason, but has progressed from pitching in the ACL to making his third appearance in Double-A, notching a 0.00 ERA in two relief appearances and a start.

Jake Brentz came in for relief in the sixth and picked up his first blown save of the season, giving up one run in one inning of work - that run being the game winner. Frankie Scalzo Jr. gave up one run in his two innings of work and Mitchell Tyranski continues his dominant run, closing the game out with one inning of no run ball. Tyranski has given up just four runs in 26 appearances for the Smokies this season.

Things were quiet on offense with the team racking up just six hits today. BJ Murray went 1-for-4 with a single and Andy Garriola went 1-for-4 with a double, but almost all of the offensive output came from Reivaj Garcia. Garcia went 4-for-4 with the teams only RBI. 

July 6: The Smokies came back in a big way, knocking the Trash Pandas back to earth with a massive 11-3 victory.

Starter Antonio Santos put together his best start of the season, hurling five innings of one run ball. He gave up only one hit - a solo homer - and struck out six. This is Santos’ sixth start of the season, but he sits with a 1.90 ERA and hasn’t let up more than one or two runs in any appearance so far this season.

Sam Thoreson gave up two runs in his single inning of relief, but Cayne Ueckert and Zac Leigh combined to close out the game, going three innings of no run ball.

The offense went off today, putting up 11 runs on 16 hits. Reivaj Garcia continued his scorching hot streak, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs. BJ Murray joined the club, going an identical 3-for-4 with two RBIs. It was death by a thousand cuts as Jordan Nwogu, Casey Opitz, and Jaylen Palmer all added two hits of their own as well. 

High-A South Bend Cubs

Season Record: 29-52
Series Opponent: Peoria Chiefs (St. Louis Cardinals)
Series Standing: Loss 5-1

July 5: The Cubs drop their fifth in a row to the Chiefs by a score of 2-5.

Ryan Gallagher took the mound today and continued to show elite stuff and command, striking out another six batters - making this his ninth start in a row to strike out six or more - but he also let up ten hits and five runs, good for the most runs he’s allowed this season. There’s definitely some luck involved recently as opposing batters have been having an unsustainably high BABIP against Gallagher, but he needs to return to keeping runners off the basepaths if he’s going to continue to be successful moving forward.

Jackson Kirkpatrick came in for relief, making his third appearance since being promoted from Low-A. He’s continued his elite pro debut, sitting at 18 appearances and a 0.71 ERA this season. He’ only let up two earned runs all season, both in the same game, and he has yet to let up a run in Double-A so far.

Brian Kalmer was the MVP on offense today, notching two of the teams four hits and both of their RBIs. Kalmer doubled in the second, putting the team up 2-0, their last lead of the game.

July 6: The Cubs avoided a series sweep by taking the finale from the chiefs by a score of 5-3.

Connor Schultz took the mound for South Bend today, putting up a four inning performance where he allowed three runs off of four hits and two homers. He didn’t walk any batters and picked up two strikeouts. Reliever Kenten Ebert picked up his third win of the season after going in for two innings, allowing one hit and no runs. Vince Reiully, Luis Rujano, and Johzan Oquendo combined to notch two holds and a save, pitching three innings and striking out four without allowing a hit.

The offense notched five runs on ten hits, with Jefferson Rojas leading the way with a 2-for-4 performance with two RBIs and a double. Rpjas leads the team in both AVG (.281) and OPS (.862). Rojas has an incredibly hot May (.977 OPS) that lead to a huge drop off in June (.752 OPS), but he bounced back quickly at the start of July (.862 OPS). The organization will hope he can finish strong and earn himself a promotion to Double-A heading into the 2026 season.

Left fielder Edgar Alvarez logged his fourth home run of the season as well, adding to the Cubs’ lead.

Low-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Season Record: 36-42
Series Opponent: Charleston RiverDogs (Tampa Bay Rays)
Series Standing: Win 4-1

July 5: The game today was postponed due to inclement weather.

July 6: The Pelicans narrowly missed out on sweeping the RiverDogs, dropping the series finale 7-1.

High ceiling potential star Nazier Mule took the mound today for the Pelicans and regressed on his previous outings, pitching just two and ⅓ innings while giving up five runs (four of them earned) on three hits and four walks. He struck out four, but the walks clogged the basepaths and led to hits becoming RBIs early and often. Opposing batters are still only hitting .217 against Mule, but he’s getting into trouble giving up too many free base runners. He’s struck out 43 hitters in just 37 innings of work, but he’s also given up 27 walks. He’ll need to work on refining his command this offseason if he hopes to make the jump to High-A next season.

Dominic Hambley closed out today's game, going for one inning and striking out two, not letting up a hit. Hambley, the 22 year old righty, is having his best season of his pro career, sitting at a 1.13 ERA through 15 appearances this season. This is a huge improvement over last season where he ended with a 7.58 ERA in Low-A.

The Pelicans couldn’t get anything done on offense, logging just four hits to 11 strikeouts. First baseman Owen Ayers drove in the teams only run with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning to keep the team from getting shutout.

The Pelicans still managed to take four out of five from the RiverDogs and are on fire to start the second half, sitting in first place of the Carolina League South at 11-3. The Pelicans will hope to keep the good times rolling and push for a playoff appearance after a rough start to the season.

Notable Promotions / Injury Notes

• RHP Carlos Rangel assigned to the DSL Cubs Blue from DSL Cubs Red

• Knoxville Smokies transferred C Haydn McGreary from the 7-Day IL to the 60-Day IL

• ACL Cubs Transferred RHP Ben Johnson from the 7-Day IL to the 60-Day IL

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[Victor Reichman]

I know the sentiment is to trade Cassie. I disagree. Unless Tucker signs a 3-4 yr deal with the Cubs, Cassie will be needed. Certainly, never trade him for a 1 yr. rental. The only weak hitter in the lineup which already scores lots of runs is Shaw and his superb fielding has already saved runs. He will come around. 

We gave up Paredes who has 18 HR and is fielding well and rarely strikes out and Cam Smith who is having an outstanding, true rookie year + Hayden for a 1 yr rental. Tucker has been very good, but was just traded so Hoyer could keep his job. Let's not make the same mistake with Cassie as Cam Smith..